At the Edge of Fate
by forensicsfan
Summary: Being rescued was only the beginning for Sara the six months after that changed everything as her world unraveled and a new one seemed to blossom. GSR angst. NSR.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them; I hope however, that Jorja Fox has a resigned contract and isn't written off the show or my DVDs off all six seasons that I have are going up on Ebay.

**Author's Note:** This is dedicated to Hanna. Somehow it isn't as fluffy as I'd hoped, but this is what my muse made me write and who am I to argue? Enjoy.

* * *

It had been six months. Six months since she'd survived being left for dead in the desert. Six months since her relationship with Grissom had suddenly become public knowledge. Six months since the proverbial shit had hit the fan and set a string of events in motion that she could never have foreseen happening before Natalie Davis had kidnapped her. 

The first few weeks after she'd been rescued had been the worst; her own personal hell really. She'd had some time to recover of course, a series of department mandated sessions with a shrink to deem her fit for duty to be sure, but the reassignment to swing shift under Catherine had really been the last straw. Somehow she thought if she couldn't be with Grissom she didn't want to work at the Las Vegas Crime Lab at all. Funny thing how a few months could add perspective after such an irrational impulsive thing as handing Ecklie her resignation; he had been more than happy to receive it. If she thought she'd be happy staying at home with plenty of time on her hands waiting for Grissom to come home, she was wrong. She needed the pseudo sanity that working cases provided; or at the very least the camaraderie that she'd developed over the years with Nick, Warrick, and Greg.

She missed the guys the most. She had Grissom, but somehow it wasn't enough anymore; he wasn't enough anymore. Maybe it was because he didn't seem to understand what she'd been through or how she thought she was never going to get better or stop having nightmares. And when she tried to explain it to him he seemed to just stand there a bit shell shocked as if he didn't know what to say or that what she was telling him was far too uncomfortable to deal with. So for a while she just tried to keep it to herself, hoping that he might just think she was getting over it and moving on. But in the midst of that she found that she had gotten over him and she found that she had to find a way to move on, but she couldn't quite make herself move out of Vegas; this was the closest place she'd ever had to feeling like she had a home and she wasn't ready to give up on it entirely yet.

Western LVU had offered her a job teaching forensics; it wasn't a perfect job, but it certainly allowed her to forge a life after Grissom. So here she was, taking a late afternoon walk with Bruno and enjoying the fact that she could just let the dog take his time; a far cry from the hurried walks she used to take him on when she still worked at the crime lab. She hadn't been in this particular neighborhood for a long time, well before she'd started spending all of her time off with Grissom, but there was a familiarity about it that had beckoned her and Bruno seemed thrilled with the prospect of making yet another park his newfound territory.

The sound of footfalls coming quickly her direction caused her to glance up at an approaching jogger. The closer he got, she realized that it was a face that she hadn't seen in almost six months and the pang in her gut made her realize that she had missed him dearly.

Surprise registered on Nick Stokes face as he realized just who was coming his way with a large dog in tow, and he slowed for a moment as he approached Sara and her boxer that he vaguely remembered being named Bruno; something that he hadn't been too eager to remember when he'd found out that she'd been seeing Grissom and that Bruno was _their_ dog. Of course, he'd heard through the lab gossip mill that Grissom and Sara had split up, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to call her; it had just been too awkward with how everything had gone down when she'd left the lab. Now that she was coming his direction on the path, he realized how completely stupid he had been.

Sara felt a smile spreading across her face as Nick seemed to slow for a moment and then speed up as he recognized her. She really wasn't sure what she was going to say to him, but as she felt herself being swept into a bear hug, she realized that she didn't have to worry at all, "Hey, Nicky."

"Sar, you are a sight for sore eyes," Nick couldn't pretend to hide the fact that he'd missed her; there had been times over the last seven years that she'd been the one bright spot in an otherwise dark and hellish job. They'd become fast friends when she'd first come to Vegas, but as life seemed to happen around them, they hadn't always made the time outside of work to keep tabs on each other; sure she'd been there for him after he'd been rescued, but he didn't feel like he could return the favor after he'd found out she was with Grissom. It just hurt too damn much that she'd hidden it from him; and if he was honest with himself, he was jealous of the bastard for having the balls to do something about his feelings.

As they pulled apart, Sara's expression was a bit more tentative, "How are things?" She didn't want to ask about Grissom; that wasn't what she was asking at all. She wanted to know how Warrick was doing now that his divorce was final. She wanted to know if Greg had ever gotten around to asking Wendy out. She wanted to know if Catherine had taken the stick out of her ass. Well, everything but that last thing anyway.

Nick didn't beat around the bush, "We all miss you; I miss you. I think Greg would rather flirt with you than anyone else and I think Warrick misses having someone to tell him that his ego is too big." Nick let out a hearty chuckle; sure he hadn't seen her in nearly six months, but they'd always had that ease about them to just pick right up where they'd left off, no matter that where they'd left off this last time had been a place that he hoped that they'd never be, ever.

"I'm sure you're handling the take down on Warrick's ego just fine without my help," She missed this banter with Nick, the ease of conversation without the expectation for her to be anything other than herself; even with all the fucked up summation of her life, Nick still took her for who she was and she couldn't have asked for a better sort of friend.

Nick let out a hearty laugh at that, "Yeah, I suppose I am," his expression softened, "Things just aren't the same without you, Sar." He wasn't above begging her to come back, but he knew that as long as Ecklie was assistant director of the lab, the chances that Sara Sidle would be rehired would be a long shot; and then there was the issue of Grissom. He knew that the pair had broken up, but he had never heard what the circumstances were surrounding the blessed event; just that Grissom didn't look nearly as affected by it as he thought he should be. Maybe he was, but it didn't show, but then this was a man that had successfully concealed that he and Sara had been romantically involved for over a year.

"I can't go back, Nick," There was a lot she wasn't ready to say, but she understood his sentiment, she missed them all too. Sara forced that smile back on her face as Bruno plopped himself down at her feet and let out a snort, his eyes looking up at her trustingly.

"You kept the dog?" Nick knew that he was probably treading into sensitive territory, but he wanted her to know that he had some idea of what was going on without coming out and asking her for nitty-gritty details.

"Yeah, I can take him to work...we both thought it was better this way," Sara noticed the kindness in Nick's eyes and resolved that she didn't need to rehash what had happened with Grissom.

"You doing ok?...I mean are you sleeping ok?" Nick registered that Sara seemed to look completely freaked out as if someone had shared with him her deepest darkest secret and he quickly fumbled to try and make it right. "Uh, after I was kidnapped...I had nightmares for a long time...I just figured that maybe you were dealing with the same thing," He hoped that he'd come off sounding far less invasive than he felt like he was being, but the truth was he'd been wondering how she'd been holding up for months.

Sara felt relief wash over her as she realized that Nick in fact knew what she was going through; something that in the midst of Grissom, her reassignment to swing and finally her resignation that she'd lost sight of. She felt an emotion she couldn't quite identify as she blinked her eyes a couple of times to stave of sudden tears that she didn't know were there, "Uh, sometimes...I sleep better with Bruno here...but it's hard."

"Yeah," Nick nodded, he still had nightmares sometimes, but he'd never thought to get a dog; it probably would have helped him to focus less on himself when things had been at their worst. He wasn't sure what else to say, but he didn't want to let her go just yet; running into her today couldn't be an accident; an appointment made by fate maybe that he just couldn't ignore, "Uh, you doing anything right now?"

Sara smirked at him, "I think I'm standing here talking to you." She couldn't resist the jab; something that she missed being able to do and maybe just maybe it might keep their conversation going just a little bit longer.

Nick laughed and gestured towards the edge of the park in the direction he'd been running when he'd stopped to talk to her, "You wanna come home with me and just hang out for a while; I have the night off and I'd love to spend some time with you." He didn't feel like he had the luxury of time to waste now that he'd run into her again.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Sara's smile was genuine and as she and Bruno fell in step with Nick; reassuring him that she'd beat him to his townhouse as he walked her to her car before resuming his run toward home.

_**2 years later:**_

The snort of dog breath in Nick's face caused him to wrinkle his nose up and burrow down into his pillow just a little bit deeper; it wasn't until a wet nose and a sloppy wet dog kiss hit his face that he realized that Bruno was just not going to give up until he was let out and he smiled in spite of it. The dog was a remind of the bliss that had begun to blossom that day in the park; that unexpected day with Sara had turned into an all night talk and somewhere in the middle of it they'd made plans to get together again a few days later. And it went on like that for several months; meeting for coffee, taking the dog for a run, or just kicking back at Nick's place to enjoy each other's company. Somewhere in the middle of it all, they realized that they were no longer just two friends getting together to catch up or even stay in touch, but rather, they had become two people who had woken up one day and realized that they'd fallen in love without even trying. That realization had led them to small chapel well off of the Strip and to the bliss of mornings like this with sloppy dog kisses and the feel of Sara curled up warmly next to him sleeping soundly.

_**The End**_


End file.
